Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 04:48:40 -0000
From: Nathan Wolf
Subject: Blood Angel (Chapter 8)
Hello, I'm back. I apologize for the delay. Thanx to Colleen for support,
and thanx to everyone for the dozens of e-mails I get every day. I'm glad
ppl like the story. It kind of became my life. I keep thinking of it even
when I sleep. Weird, huh?
Anyway, BSB are not gay...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colleen paced around the phone, looking at it occasionally, and cracking
her fingers in such manner that it echoed the hallway. Finally, after
fifteen minutes of restless pacing, she picked up the receiver, and dialed.
The voice on the other line was deep and harsh:
"Hello?"
"Dominic?"
"Yes... who are you and what'cha want?"
Colleen smiled slightly:
"C'mon... my all time favorite godfather... you don't recognize my voice?"
"Colleen? Where were you kid? The family misses you."
She frowned at that, but resolution which clearly showed on her face only
grew stronger:
"I was taking care of personal problems. Dom, I need help."
"Anything for family kid. What's the problem?"
"There is this vampire gang... The Blood..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJ laughed so hard that he bent over and eventually ended up on the
floor. Howie was staring at Robby sarcastically, while Kevin was the only
one who showed any trace of understanding. Robby felt sick. He expected
anything from these guys, but he never expected that they would simply
refuse to believe that he is a vampire. AJ was choking and coughing from
laughing, but managed to form a sentence:
"A vampire? Good one Brian... good one..."
Kevin just stared. It seemed as if he was about to ask something, but
decided against it. Brian looked furious. What he had to tell them was
already hard in itself, but with guys reacting the way they did, it was
almost impossible for him to say any of the things he planned on saying.
Robby desperately wanted to reach over and squeeze Brian's hand, but he knew
that would only make the situation worse.
Brian's voice was hard and emotionless:
"Robby is a vampire... and if you don't believe it, I'm sure he could
convince you in not so pleasant way."
At that, AJ stopped laughing as if on command and focused on Robby. Howie
was staring at him and clearly challenging him to do something to prove
himself as a vampire.
Robby took a deep breath. He hated changing... in his vampire state he lost
most of his humanity. He was almost afraid of himself in that state, but if
that was what would convince everyone that Brian was telling the truth, then
that was what Robby needed to do.
He closed his eyes and focused on pain... pain of losing Brian, pain of
having Brian change his mind and tell him he doesn't really love him, pain
of having to live forever... Only when frightened gasps rose around the
room, did he realize that he succeeded. He knew perfectly well what his face
looked like, and to add to the effect, he smiled, his fangs shining white in
the grayness of the room. His eyes flashed hungrily from Howie to AJ, and
finally to Kevin, who barely had any expression on his face. Meanwhile, AJ
was staring at Robby, froze in half-kneeling position on the floor where he
had been laughing only fifteen seconds ago. Howie pressed himself against
the wall, as if hoping to sink through it, and escape the horrifying picture
in front of him.
Only when Brian gently touched his hand, did Robby let go of the pain and
anger, and with that, let the mask slip of his face. Kevin stood up slowly,
his face still expressionless:
"It was your kind that attacked us at the club Midnight"
Robby nodded:
"The Blood gang... gang I used to be a part of."
Kevin started pacing, and frowning at his feet as if in deep thought:
"So if you really are a vampire, I'm guessing everything else you said is
true too."
Robby frowned too, his eyes glittering unnaturally:
"Of course it is. I have no reason to lie."
AJ slowly rose to his feet, but made sure to sit as far away from Robby as
possible:
"So how long have you been... you know... a vampire?"
Robby barely looked in his direction:
"Ten years."
AJ didn't bother to suppress a loud whistle.
Howie was still pressed against the wall, but that didn't stop him from
talking:
"He's really a vampire! We're not gonna trust a vampire, we almost got
killed by them... why would we trust this one? How do we know he's not here
simply to kill us all?!"
Robby smiled:
"If I wanted to kill you all, you'd already be dead. I have no interest in
killing, I'm not like the rest of them."
Kevin stopped pacing and looked at Robby. After a long silence he finally
spoke:
"I believe you."
Ignoring the startled glances from Howie and AJ, Kevin kept staring at
Robby:
"But that's not all, is it?"
He turned to glance at Brian, who seemed to almost be hiding behind Robby.
Robby's heart... or at least, the piece of his soul which pounded like a
heart, seemed ready to explode. Somehow he knew that everything depended on
what Brian says.
Brian squeezed Robby's hand which didn't pass unnoticed by guys, but he
spoke before any of them had a chance to react:
"I'm in love with Robby."
Silence.
Then Kevin smiled slightly, and opening his hands, hugged Brian tight
whispering in his ear:
"He's not exactly a guy I'd pick for you... but he made you admit to
yourself that you're gay, which I thought would never happen."
Somehow, Brian didn't look shocked by the fact that Kevin accepted him
easily. Kevin was never the person he was worried about in the first place.
AJ just stared, his mouth half open, and moving slightly although making no
sound whatsoever. Robby suspected that Howie's outburst was what Brian was
afraid of since he stepped into the hotel:
"In love? So you're a faggot?! Why doesn't that surprise me at all? I always
thought you could easily end up being a queer. Jesus Christ! Of all the
things, you have to end up screwing a guy! And a vampire guy!!"
Brian looked like he was about to collapse. Robby knew that Brian had
expected harsh words from Howie, but nothing prepared him for so much hate.
Brian's hand quickly found Robby's, and squeezed it tight, as if holding on
to a life jacket. Robby felt the anger build up in him. No one had the right
to speak to Brian that way... no one had the right to insult Brian.
He didn't even notice that he moved towards Howie, but the second his hand
grabbed Howie's shirt, he knew he had made a wrong choice. The expression on
Howie's face was horrifying... the type of expression Robby saw many times
on people who knew they were about to die. He let go of Howie and moved away
from him in disgust. His voice was a silent growl:
"You're not worth it."
Only then he noticed that no one in the room had moved an inch. No one had
moved to stop him.
Brian was the only one who moved; he dropped down on the floor, and silently
wept hugging himself. In one step, Robby was on the floor next to him.
Wrapping his hands around Brian's shaky shoulders, he pulled him closer, and
Brian buried his head in Robby's chest, holding on to him tightly.
Kevin's eyes were watery, but his voice was harsh:
"Let's go guys. Brian needs rest... we'll talk about this tomorrow."
Howie seemed about to complain, but Kevin cut him off:
"We're leaving now. I want everyone to go to their rooms and sleep on this.
Tomorrow we can discuss this as adults."
His last sentence was directed at Howie, who frowned at him, but left right
away without saying a word. AJ left silently, and Nick followed him out,
throwing concerned looks at Brian over his shoulders. He stopped at the
door, and opened his mouth to say something, when Kevin growled loudly:
"Get out and go to sleep. Now!"
Nick scurried out, and then Kevin left silently, closing the door behind
him.
Robby rocked Brian slowly back and forth, his body pressed against Brian's,
feeling all the pain and misery that flowed out of Brian's shaky body like a
wild river. Smoothing his hair back slowly, Robby started to sing to him
very quietly, still holding him tight:
"All your eyes have ever seen
All you've ever heard
Is etched upon my memory
Is spoken through my words
All that I take with me
Is all you've left behind
We're sharing one eternity
Living in two minds
Linked by an endless thread
Impossible to break..."
Brian looked up, his face wet with tears:
"That was beautiful..."
Robby wiped his tears gently, caressing his face:
"You are beautiful... You're my life. I don't know what I'd do without
you... I'm sorry your friends treated you the way they did... I feel as if
it's all my fault..."
Brian's face grew desperate:
"No, please don't think that. None of this is your fault... I've always been
gay, they had to face it and accept it sooner or later. I love you... please
don't think it's your fault. If you leave me..."
Brian's eyes filled up with fresh tears, and he buried his head in Robby's
shoulder mumbling:
"If you leave me... I'll die."
Robby hugged him tight, and kissed his hair which smelled like fresh
strawberries:
"I'll never leave you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The limo was hot and uncomfortable. Justin Timberlake stared thoughtfully
through the tinted windows. It was a weird town. So quiet and dead, that it
made you feel as if you're the only person alive. Although it was close to
2am, Justin still expected to see people in the streets, to see a part of
the night life in the town. However, all he saw so far was some cats, and
some unusual black shapes that showed up and disappeared so fast, that he
was convinced he simply dozed off and dreamed of seeing them.
He didn't want to be there. He wanted to be home, with his mom. The break
that was promised to his band fell through, and he couldn't do anything but
go along with his managers wishes. So instead of curling up at home and
resting, he had to spend a week or so in a ghost town. With their biggest
competition; Backstreet Boys.
Actually, Justin didn't really look at them as a competition any more. His
band, N'Sync, was already on the top. Their last album sold out thousands
and thousands more copies than BSB album, Black and Blue. The Total Request
Live was an obvious proof of that. N'Sync have been on the top for weeks and
weeks now, while BSB had a hard time getting to the second spot. Justin
actually felt bad for them. He personally thought they were an extremely
good band, and they rocked singing live. But there was nothing to do about
it... you were on the top or you weren't. If you can't make it to the top
then there is nothing to do about it.
Justin glanced around the limo. Lance was asleep, his head on JC's shoulder.
JC was pronounced as the best pillow in the band, and they all took turns on
sleeping on his shoulder. Chris was staring through the window too, but his
mind seemed somewhere far, far away. Chris had been doing a lot of that
lately, and Justin had meant to talk to him, to check if everything is
alright. But Chris kept pushing him away, so Justin finally gave up. Joey
was the only one completely awake. He juggled little colored balls so fast
that Justin's head was soon full of spinning colors. He turned back to
staring through the window.
Some five minutes later, the limo stopped, and the driver opened the doors
for them. Justin was the first one out, stretching and rubbing his ass. JC
stepped out giggling:
"Ass pain?"
Justin grinned:
"Dude, I've been sitting in there for four hours straight. I can't sit and
do nothing for four hours, my ass complains."
Soon they were all out of the limo, but before they even moved towards the
entrance, they were greeted by a short balding man:
"Good evening guys, I believe the trip went good. My name is Paul, I'll be
helping you to settle down, at least until you manager's man Mark gets here.
His flight was delayed. I'll have the guys get your luggage."
He waved his hand, and three middle aged man moved from the shade of the
hotel. Justin hadn't even seen them standing there, but it didn't surprise
him, since the entire town seemed to be made up of shadows and darkness. The
men grabbed the luggage with an incredible ease, and carried it to the
hotel. Paul grinned:
"What am I doing keeping you here, you guys must be tired and sleepy. Let me
show you your rooms, you have a day off tomorrow, or at least until Mark
gets here."
JC and Justin looked at each other and grinned widely. A day off!
Mark walked with them to the reception and gave them separate rooms, so they
would be 'more comfortable.' When they all piled up into the elevator, Paul
smacked his forehead:
"I forgot to tell you guys. I take care of BSB too. They are also staying in
this hotel... as the matter of fact, you have rooms on the same floor."
Justin raised his eyebrows; he didn't really expect to have any contact with
BSB while they were in town. Sharing the same floor with them... He glanced
at JC, and noticed the well known angry frown on his face. JC didn't want to
go anywhere close to BSB. He despised them with passion, although they made
a pathetic competition. Justin never understood why JC hated BSB so much...
in fact, some 6 months ago, JC and AJ seemed to get along very well. They
hang out almost every day, did everything together, from shopping, to diner,
and movie nights... and then one day, it just stopped. JC refused to talk
about it, he simply curled inside of himself and refused to come out. Since
then, he had hated BSB with passion. Justin would have given anything just
to find out what happened, but JC refused to talk about it, so Justin just
dropped it.
Paul showed them their rooms, and then gave them some instructions:
"You get to sleep in tomorrow, but the breakfast is served only until 10am.
I suggest you order in your rooms, because we're still kind of trying to
hide the fact that we have two of the most popular boy bands here.
Basically, you guys can chill until Mark gets here, then he'll know what to
do."
Justin thanked him and unlocked the door so one of the guys could carry his
luggage in. As soon as the guy left, Justin locked the door and dropped on
the bed. The tiredness wouldn't even let him undress. Five minutes later, he
was dreaming of home.
JC couldn't sleep. He kept turning over and over again, but his mind
wouldn't let him rest.
He finally got off the bed, and stepped out on the small balcony next to the
entrance of the bathroom. Curling up on the cold cement, he stared at the
stars.
He couldn't understand why everything in his life kept pushing him back to
AJ. He didn't want to be anywhere close to AJ. When they were far away from
each other, JC could easily pretend that AJ never existed, and that
everything related to AJ was simply a bad dream. But he couldn't do that
now... not when AJ was only couple of rooms away.
He hated remembering that 'bad dream' but memories kept piling up, and he
couldn't stop them no matter how hard he tried...
6 months ago
JC was nervous... he kept pacing up and down his hotel room in New York, and
biting his lips so hard that they bled. He knew what he had to do. He's been
keeping a secret inside of himself for so long that he had to say it to
someone. And who better to say it to than a person he was in love with.
Five minutes later, JC heard a slight knock on the door. Opening the door,
he was almost blinded by AJ's white teeth. Aj was grinning widely as always,
and gave JC a warm hug:
"I missed you man... What are we doing today?... I have the whole day off,
and I want to spend it with you."
JC took a deep breath:
"AJ, I have to tell you something."
AJ's face suddenly grew serious. JC led him to the couch, and when AJ sat
down, JC sat on the floor in front of him. There was a dead silence for
couple of minutes, and then JC took another deep breath. 'Now or never.'
"AJ, I'm gay... and... and I love you."
AJ's face was blank. There was no emotion there, no hate, no love,
absolutely nothing. Then he shakily stood up, and quickly walked out of the
room.
JC curled up on the floor and wept for hours...
present
The wind softly brushed the hair of JC's face, while he cried silently,
curled up under the stars. He didn't think he could stand seeing AJ again.
he didn't think he could stand so much pain at once.
With tears still streaming down his face, he drifted off to sleep and
nightmares, where AJ left him over, and over, and over again...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Derrick moved quickly through the darkness of the streets. He could feel
Mark somewhere far away... not close enough to cause any trouble.
The Blood gang had finally gathered enough balls to pronounce him guilty for
sabotaging the Midnight Club attack. He was accused of helping Robby, the
hunt pray, which meant that hunt was now after Derrick too. It didn't scare
him that much... Mark was going overboard. Pretty soon, someone was bound to
get tired of his shit, and as soon as a stake pierces Mark's chest, Derrick
will be there to take over. He knew that the Blood would follow him with
Mark gone. It was all just matter of time.
He was worried about Robby. He spent nights walking through the town and
trying to feel his presence, but it simply disappeared. That only meant two
things... either Robby was truly in contact with his human side, or he was
dead. Derrick didn't even want to think about the later.
All of the sudden a familiar presence washed over him. Robby was changing
somewhere near... it disappeared shortly after it happened but it was enough
for Derrick to get some sense of direction.
He needed to find Robby. Robby was his only hope of winning over Mark...
Robby was the only one strong enough to kill Mark...
Because if he wasn't able to do it, then they were staring death in the
eyes. And that was the last thing Derrick had in mind.
It's not really long, but the next one should be huge... comments, comments,
comments... write back and tell me what you think :o)